Sporting directors, football directors, or technical directors… This position goes by many names. However, in the form most widely recognized, the sporting director, referring to the individual responsible for overseeing the football activities of a team, has become a significant cornerstone in the football club conglomerate. Sporting directors not only decide on transfers and squad planning, but also the recruitment of managers for the planned matches. Bestsoccertips has compiled a list of the best football sporting directors over the past 30 years.
Top 10 Best Sporting Directors in Football
Ariedo Braida
Ariedo Braida, the legendary former director of AC Milan, is one of the figures credited with bringing some of the best players to the club and played a key role for nearly three decades. He served as CEO and sporting director of the Italian giants from 1986 to 2013.
The 1990s concluded with multiple championship victories for AC Milan. From the late 1980s, they secured nearly 30 titles with Ariedo Braida, including 8 Serie A championships and 5 Champions League titles.
Currently, he serves as the CEO of Cremonese, after a 4-year tenure at Barcelona. Braida took over the club in December 2020, and the following season, they were promoted directly to Serie A.
Cremonese had not appeared in Italy’s top flight since 1996, a club that throughout the 1980s and 90s spent a total of six seasons in the top flight. Fagioli and Zanimacchia, who joined the club on loan from Juventus under Braida, played a significant role in their promotion.
Giuseppe Marotta
Marotta, 65, one of the most adept executives in football, was the mastermind behind Juventus’ extraordinary era of dominance from 2010 to 2018. Under Giuseppe, Juventus won Serie A every season except the first, until January 2020.
Juventus unexpectedly reached the Champions League final in 2015, constructing one of the world’s best midfields at low cost. Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Sami Khedira, Aaron Ramsey, and Adrien Rabiot joined the Old Lady on free transfers.
While Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence provided a significant boost for Juventus, signing such a player wouldn’t have been possible without Marotta, who worked wonders behind the scenes in Turin.
He joined the Nerazzurri immediately after leaving Turin and continued to serve as their football CEO. In his first season with Giuseppe, Inter finished second in Serie A, and in the following season, they clinched the title. In the 2021/22 season, the Nerazzurri finished second in the table, narrowly trailing rivals AC Milan.
Little Begiristain, Manchester City
Txiki Begiristain is the man whom Pep Guardiola expressed deep respect for, saying, “Without him, I wouldn’t be here.” He is the sporting director who sought out Guardiola when Barcelona sacked Frank Rijkaard at the end of the 2007-08 season.
In the 2011/12 season, Manchester City clinched their first league title in 44 years in the most dramatic circumstances imaginable, but the summer transfer window was not a particularly joyful time for them. In October of that year, Guardiola’s advisor arrived to take on the role of scouting new players after 7 successful years at Barcelona.
During Begiristain’s first summer transfer window at the club, Fernandinho signed from Shakhtar for £30 million. He played a crucial role in helping Man City secure a domestic double in their first season. Furthermore, Manchester City displayed a trend of signing players with high ceilings and turning them into global stars under Begiristain.
When considering Barca’s impressive era and Man City’s transformation, regarding sporting directors who can help a club build a winning mentality, Txiki simply stands out as the best.
Ralf Rangnick
Ralf Rangnick, currently the coach of the Austrian national team, is highly regarded by the Red Bull Group. He first joined Red Bull as the sporting director of Leipzig in 2012, bringing in young talents like Emil Forsberg, Naby Keita, and Timo Werner to the club. He was present as RB Leipzig climbed through the German football ranks, becoming Bundesliga title contenders and Champions League qualifiers.
Leipzig, then in the fourth tier of German football, wasn’t even the first club Rangnick revitalized. He guided Schalke to a Bundesliga runner-up finish in 2004/05 and won the UEFA Champions League with third-division side Hoffenheim in 2006, a feat that could go down in club folklore.
Monchi
Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, commonly known as Monchi, is an outstanding sporting director. After serving as sporting director at Sevilla for 17 years, he prepared to move to Italy. He spent less than two years at AS Roma and is currently in his second stint at Sevilla.
Before his arrival in 2000, Sevilla hadn’t won a major trophy since 1948. After his involvement, the club won six UEFA Europa League titles and a UEFA Super Cup. Additionally, he raised the standard of the club’s academy, which eventually produced talents like Sergio Ramos, Jesus Navas, Albert Moreno, and Jose Reyes.
With promotions to the top flight, young talents from the academy, 10 titles, and increased profits from transfer fees – when Sevilla appointed Monchi as sporting director, even they couldn’t have expected such success.
Luis Campos
Luis Campos is a seasoned sporting director who has worked at top clubs. He was a scout for Real Madrid while Jose Mourinho was coaching Los Blancos. Campos joined Monaco in 2013 and built a team that changed the club’s fortunes. Under his leadership, Monaco developed excellent young players who later became outstanding superstars, and the club earned significant profits from major transfers. Kylian Mbappé, Anthony Martial, Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar, and others shone at Monaco under him. Additionally, Campos’s close relationship with Mbappé has also been widely noted.
With the legendary generation Campos built, Monaco reached the Champions League semi-finals and won the Ligue 1 title. The Portuguese sporting director wrote a new story when he signed with Lille in 2017. Campos brought in young players at low prices and sold them for hefty profits.
France earned a total of €150 million from selling Victor Osimhen and Nicolas Pepe. Campos also revived the careers of Renato Sanches, Jose Fonte, and Loic Remy. Lille transformed from a mid-table club to a Champions League participant and won the Ligue 1 title in 2021. In 2022, Luis Campos joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain and was appointed as Football Advisor. However, he is the sporting director of the club and has brought in Hugo Ekitiké, Renato Sanches, and Nordi Mukiele.
Michael Zorc
Michael Zorc is certainly one of the best sporting directors in the world. Zorc, 59, dedicated 43 years of his life to Borussia Dortmund. He was a BVB player from 1978 to 1998, and after retiring, he immediately became the sporting director of the club. He served as sporting director for 24 years until leaving the club in 2022. The club won two Bundesliga titles against Bayern in the past decade and reached the UEFA Champions League final in 2013.
He oversaw the emergence of excellent young players from the academy. Additionally, he has the ability to spot promising young players and turn them into superstars, as we’ve seen with players like Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele, Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham, and others. Zorc has also brought huge profits to Dortmund through player sales. Borussia Dortmund appointed Sebastian Kehl, another club legend, as sporting director after Michael Zorc’s departure. We’ll see how Kehl fares. But clearly, fans will remember Zorc fondly.
Andrea Berta
Andrea Berta, a former bank employee, was awarded the Globe Soccer Awards for Best Sporting Director in football in 2019. Berta, who first took on the role of sporting director at Carpenedolo in 2002, progressed in football management after working with Parma and Genoa.
He became the sporting director of Atletico in 2017. While Berta played a crucial role in signing players like Joe Oblak, Antoine Greizman, Joao Felix, Kieran Trippier, Renan Lodi, Felipe, Marcos Llorente, and Luis Suarez, the club won the LaLiga title under Diego Simeone’s reign. But “The years of big signings are over,” Berta told Marca, marking a new era at Atletico Madrid. “For us, what’s important is to continue with this valuable squad, with players with bright futures.”
Michael Edwards
Edwards left Liverpool in June 2022, after 11 years. He served as sporting director for 4 years and helped turn the Reds into the world’s best team. During his time at the club, he was responsible for all of Liverpool’s signings since 2016. Look at the world-class stars at Liverpool like Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Giogino Wijnaldum, Virgil Van Dijk, Allison, Fabinho, and Diogo Jota, Edwards played a significant role in all signings.
He executed the plan set by the club’s owners – and maximized profits while still achieving success on the field, despite operating with significantly lower budgets than many of Liverpool’s rivals. Additionally, Edwards is a master negotiator for players about to depart. He proved that by selling surplus players in the team such as Jordan Ibe, Dominic Solanke, Mammadu Sako, Christian Benteke, and Danny Ings in profitable deals. Philippe Coutinho’s move to Barcelona was his biggest sale.
Florian Maurice
After 10 years at Lyon, 48-year-old Maurice became the sporting director of Stade Rennais in 2020. The club’s policy changed after Florian Maurice. Under his direction, Rennes began to give more opportunities to young players and signed many young talents from various European countries.
Chelsea paid the French club €24 million for Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. Eduardo Camavinga signed with Real Madrid, and Rennes earned €31 million from this deal. Mathys Tel moved to Bayern Munich this summer after playing only 89 minutes.
Qualifying for a European competition is tough when you lose your best players. However, Rennes achieved that in the last 5 seasons. They finished 4th in the league standings last season, just 3 points behind the Champions League spot. Rennes is building a new mentality, and Maurice plays a crucial role in that.
Conclusion
In the realm of football, the role of a sporting director transcends mere administrative duties; it embodies a profound influence on the direction and success of a club. The exemplary careers of individuals like Michael Zorc, Andrea Berta, Michael Edwards, and Florian Maurice underscore the significance of their contributions. Their adeptness in talent identification, strategic planning, and financial management has not only propelled their clubs to new heights but also set a standard of excellence for the entire industry. As they depart their respective roles or continue to steer their clubs forward, their legacies serve as a testament to the pivotal role played by sporting directors in shaping the destiny of football clubs around the world.
